The Assyrian Empire abd Cyprus .pdf

Cyprus has always been perceived as a stepping-stone of cultural and economic communication joining various areas of East Mediterranean. The Location of Cyprus is usually dealt with in terms of cultural and trade exchange. In first half of 7th century CE the strategic significance of Cyprus on Near East was clearly highlighted. Even partial control over the Island, isolated Egypt, thus making the defense of this province extremely difficult unless impossible. This report is to draw attention to the military importance of the island in the first half of 7th century CE.

Τεκμήρια, 1996

Writing in the first century before our era, Diodoros of Sicily reports that there existed on the island of Cyprus in the middle of the fourth century nine πόλεις αξιόλογοι (large cities), each ruled by a king who was a vassal of the Persian ruler. 1 From the written record-classical references, as well as Assyrian and Cypriot inscriptions, and the legends of Cypriot coinage 2-we learn the names Acknowledgments. The present paper was written during my stay at the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (Nicosia) as a National Endowment for the Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow of the American Schools of Oriental Research in 1993-4. It was initially presented in a lecture in the

2022

1. Introduction ………………………………………………………………………..........……….. 2 2. Research problems: urban longevity, limited settlement visibility … 3 3. One political culture, three language groups …………………………...……… 3 4. Continuities and settlement pattern restructuring ……………..………..… 4 5. Territorial fragmentation, social homogenization …………………..……….5 6. New commercial strategies: after the crisis and prior to empire rule6 7. Black-on red ware ……………………………………………………………….......……..... 8 8. Cypro-archaic: return to empire rule ……………………………………......……… 9 9. Manifestations of royalty and expansion of Cypriot trading activities to east and west from c.7600 BC ………..………………………………..........……… 10 10. Terracotta and limestone sculpture …………………………….....……………… 11 11. Sanctuaries and kingdom territories ………………………………....………..… 12 12. Numismatic economy ……………………………………………………….......….……. 13 13. Persian rule and the Graeco-Persian conflict ………………...……………… 14 14. The Phoenicians and Kition ……..……………………………………......…………… 14 15. The Cypro-classical period ……………………………………………….......………… 15 16. A symbolic death and the end of trilinguism …………………...……………. 17 17. Kyprioi: one cultural identity ………………………………………………........…….. 17 18. Suggested reading …………………………………………………………….........……… 17

Meletai kai Hypomnemata, 1989

A straightforward narrative in chronological order apart, the study seeks to reevaluate in detail, as the evidence allows, a number of key events and issues in the history of ancient Cyprus at the time of the kingdoms. The nature of Cypriot kingship, the ethnicity of the Cypriots (Appendix 1), the position of Cyprus within the Persian Empire, the role of the island in the Ionian Revolt, its relation to the Hellenic League and Athens and the Delian League, what the Peace of Callias entailed for it, the reign of Evagoras etc., are amongst the topics examined.

Cyprus between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (ca. 600–800)

Byzantine historiography has often regarded the large Mediterranean islands (Cyprus, Crete, Sardinia, Malta and the Balearics) as mere peripheral additions to the Byzantine heartlanddefined as the coupling of two different geographical zones: the Anatolian plateau and the Aegean. As a result, Byzantinists seem not to have fully moved away from an interpretative framework which regards islands as either strategic military bulwarks along the Arab-Byzantine Mediterranean frontier, or as neglected marginal outposts soon to be lost forever. A partial exception to this historiographical periphericity of large islands is represented by Sicily, because of its relevance as a secure source for grain after the disruption of the Egyptian tax-spine in the 640s. In fact, by comparing material and archaeological evidence with literary and documentary sources, an alternative interpretation of the political, economic and cultural role played by large islands will be proposed, this by pairing two main themes: the first revolving around the economics of insular societies; and the second stressing the importance of islands as connective hubs with peculiar local political, social and cultural structures which remained within the Byzantine sphere of influence for longer than previously thought. This approach allows us to tip the unbalanced dialogue between margins and metropolis by pointing to a relatively higher welfare of the insular world as stemming from the uninterrupted, although diminished, "connective" role the abovementioned islands played within the Mediterranean shipping routes linking the eastern and western basin of the Mediterranean. In this light, the adaptive strategies of insular administrative structures as influenced by the political or military difficulties of the hour, as well as the urban sociopolitical and economic structures on some of the abovementioned Byzantine islands, will also be documented. This is because the construction of urban models, settlement strategies and infrastructuresalthough often based on diverse political and administrative policiesnevertheless point to the presence of common, cross-cultural insular developments such as: the role of members of urban-oriented aristocracies as cultural brokers; the creation of commercial and artisanal facilities; the construction or restoration of religious buildings as foci of settlement and regional as well as interregional pilgrimage; the resilience of local elites as catalysts of patronage; and the persistence of levels of demand often based upon regular if not frequent regional and sub-regional trans-maritime contacts.

Cyprus in Late Antiquity was a thriving and densely populated province. During the sixth and seventh centuries, the growing affluence of the island is conspicuous in comparison to other regions of the Eastern Roman Empire. In the traditional historical view, the late antique period on Cyprus ended abruptly as a result of the Arab raids of the mid-seventh century. The original focus of urban archaeology on monumental structures and Christian basilicas tended to stress the impact of these raids further; layers of destruction were often uncritically associated with the Arabs, overshadowing archaeological evidence that hinted at continuities beyond the mid-seventh century. In recent decades, archaeological research on late antique Cyprus has shifted its focus away from urban centres and single monuments in favour of a more contextual perspective. Building on well-established traditions of field prospection, diachronic survey projects and small-scale excavations are revealing a complex web of settlement patterns. They have shown that economic, political and cultural contacts between the island and the wider eastern Mediterranean were continued. Moreover, they also suggest that the end or transformation of occupation on individual sites cannot always be explained by catastrophic events, but should be interpreted in terms of local adaptation to changing needs and contacts. This symposium brings together archaeologists and historians engaged in the study of Cyprus between the sixth and eighth centuries. They will collate the results of recent and past research to arrive at a comprehensive, interdisciplinary reconstruction of life on the island in the Long Late Antiquity. Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cyprus-in-the-long-late-antiquity-registration-132113090811